Michael, after seeing your moving memorial service I want to apologize to you. I must confess that I had prejudged you during those dark days of your 2005 molestation trial where the media painted you as a "wacko."
I had thought because of your eccentric behavior that you were somehow guilty of abusing young boys. After hearing the testimonies of some of your closest friends and family members, I can now see what a kind, gentle, generous, loving person you were.
I now believe that some vultures were out to make a financial killing from you and outside of a circle of close friends and family, the darker side of our human natures prevailed in our collective condemnation of you.
While it's true in your interview with Martin Bashir from NBC you admitted you had "pajama parties" with kids at your Neverland ranch, that doesn't mean it was sexual. It's unusual perhaps, but so was your life of early fame and childhood abuse.
The fact that you had treatment to lighten your skin was probably totally attributable to fighting your disease of "vitiligo" (an autoimmunity where the body rejects its pigment cells). The countless facial surgeries were no doubt a reaction to your father's mocking of your nose. I no longer believe you were trying to change your race from black to white.
I was particularly moved by the tributes of Brooke Shields, Smokey Robinson, the Reverend Al Sharpton and Berry Gordy. I also never knew that you had given so much to charities as pointed out by Kobe Bryant.
In a previous article I stated that perhaps you didn't love yourself. I still believe that but now I can see that you loved others and they loved you back immensely.
As the public, we only got to see one side of you as portrayed by the paparazzi. But as so many friends expressed at your memorial, there was a private, shy, caring, deep soul residing within you.
As many artists are, you were very sensitive. It must have killed you to have to go through that trial and be accused of being weird, perverted, and who knows what else.
However, I believe, as expressed by Jen Grisanti a Huffington Post blogger who commented on my last Michael Jackson article, that you "went through the darkness to get to the light."
Your music, dancing, and legacy has inspired countless fans. Your personal life hopefully can serve as a reminder that you were a human being subjected to the troubles and insecurities that we all face. The way you stood up to your critics and doubters and prevailed can also be an inspiration to us all.
MJ, I hope you can forgive me for my ignorance. I now believe that any man who could write "We Are the World" could never intentionally harm another human being, especially a child. The tearful tribute spoken by your daughter, Paris at the end of the memorial service says it all and shows how loved your were not just by your children but by the children of the world.
They have feelings like everyone else. They have personal wishes and desires that can't be conceived because the spotlight is always on them.
Tom and Kate Cruise took Suri to the movies the other day. They were besieged by media. They're taking their kid to a movie for god's sake. Can't they do that in peace? I mean she's a kid.
Mr. Jackson never got the chance to go out to simple park, mall or family outing with his kids. We were too intrusive needing to know everything he did where he could be called eccentric or crazy to sell a few papers and for a higher ratings.
The sad thing about this is that We, the Public, will continue to be intrusive and hurt someone else, probably his kids because we're meddlesome and don't understand.
Some still blame the paparazzi for Princess Di's death.
You're right in that we need to remember these celebrities in the spotlight are human beings first.
I believe the truest historian of Michael may ultimately be Lisa Presley..She has already spoken about their loving and pretty "hot" relationsip. If you watch the film clips of them together you see a very different, more grown up Michael..He seemed to fall into a different way of life after their split, which I always believed hurt them both deeply.
As to the "sham" marriage gossip, give me a break..Lisa Marie definitely did not need the money or the publicity. I think she was probably one of the few people who could understand his childhood and his life. She herself has said that it was the vultures and enablers around Michael that drove her away.She also has stated that her children loved Michael and he loved them..
The second marriage was another story, I think that was to fulfill Michael's desire to be a parent. I think the world saw last week that he was a great one.
While I agree that Michael had so much to overcome and so much to give the world (and did), I feel there is an even deeper, and braver story that the media is missing...how he dealt with Lupus and the pain associated with it. I fear they will only make him out to be an addict, but I have not heard anything that suggests he was into recreational drugs. And I do not think the drug abuse was only emotionally based though I suspect his tender, loving heart had much to deal with. I hope his fans will demand the media gives him a fair "trial" this time...he deserves at least that much. There has been comments about the Lupus from reputable sources, and the media just washes over it and goes right back to the "drugs" and whatever makes them money. Michael was a beautiful soul and he needs all of us to be his voice. What the media did to him in 2005 was disgusting...it should not happen again.
I never for one moment believed he molested anyone. I very much appreciate your thoughtful & insightful comments, Joan.
Did Michael want to be white? His ever changing appearance seems to say he always wanted to be anything other than what he was. No matter how beautiful he was, (and at some points in his life he was breathtakingly beautiful), he always wanted something more. I hope he has finally found the innocent love and the beauty he spent his life seeking.
thank you for the apology...